Age to Age
by FlamingWolf
Summary: A Silver Millenium fic focusing on Venus and Kunzite. Venus comes to Earth as an ambassador trying to arrange a marriage between Princess Serenity and Endymion.
1. Prologue

The resounding slap echoed off the crystal walls of the palace. He was aghast at himself almost before the sound had died away. Slowly, deliberately, she reached up, the back of her hand wiping at the corner of her mouth. A line of red smeared across the delicate, pale skin of her wrist. The contrast was shocking, and when she looked up, all the Fire of Mars was in her eyes... though she was sworn to Venus.

No words were said. No words needed to be said. Aphrodite was a strong woman. She would not be dominated by any man. This mistake, one moment of hot temper, would not be forgiven. Those glorious eyes, the color of the Earth below, blinked once, slowly. Then Venus turned on her heel and walked away, the clack of her heels and the swirl of her dress the only sounds in the room.

He had lost her. She would not be coming back.

Ares threw back his head and howled his loss to the stars shining through the roof overhead.

&

The ocean crashed, almost drowning out the sound of the cleric. One of the lovers smiled briefly, finding it slightly ironic that the priest was calling on the goddess whose daughter he was stealing to bless the union. She was too enraptured to notice.

The priest declared them man and wife, just as the first glorious colors of sunset erupted on the horizon. Endymion kissed Selene II deeply as the crowd cheered.

One man of the throng turned away, his smile of congratulations for his prince and friend fading. Kunzite turned to the north where the ominous cloud undulated on the horizon. It had seemed to him, just for a moment, that when the union was pronounced, the cloud had swelled angrily, as though protesting. Though not especially superstitious, he made the sign to ward off evil.

It felt too much like an omen of disaster.


	2. Irritation

Aphrodite was still steaming as she dropped onto Mars' bed, and she was mid-rant as soon as the other woman came through the door. Mars sighed and detransformed into her mortal self, curling up on the bed beside her friend.

"And I'm sick of that misogynistic brother of yours, anyway! What gives him the _right-"_

Rei nodded and made commiserating noises as the monologue called for, inwardly feeling a sickening sensation. This did not sound like the usual lovers' quarrels between Ares and Aphrodite. It was then that she noticed the red mark on Aphrodite's cheek. She went cold, feeling that this time, something had truly gone wrong between them. And she was the bearer of bad news.

She waited until Aphrodite's rants became sputtering and the sputtering died away into silence before she said, completely conversationally,

"You do realize that our princess has gone missing again, right?"

Aphrodite sat bolt upright, going pale. "And you let me just sit here and go on about my personal problems why? The queen, no doubt, wants to see me, and our princess has broken the treaty _yet again_ and gone to Earth." She stood up, transforming into her senshi self and left the room at a dead run. Rei sighed and wandered down the hall. Rather than try to use the sacred fire (which did not really work well for spying on the other members of the Martian monarchy anyway), she figured it was about time to have words with her brother...

&

Venus dropped back to a walk a corridor away from the throne room to compose herself. Her breathing steadied to normal, and she nodded at the guards at the Great Doors. They saluted their captain and opened the way for her, a herald announcing her presence. For a moment, Venus had to bite back the urge to remind the man that Selene knew who she was, so that formality was completely useless in this situation. She sighed inwardly. She would not take out her frustration on those under her command. She was a professional, a bodyguard. There was no room for the woman in this capacity.

Selene was outwardly composed, but Venus could feel her worry pounding against her empathic shields. Gently, she wound a tendril of thought into her queen's mind and stroked the negative emotions with a finger-light touch, calming the woman on the throne. Selene flashed her a look that was first irritated, then grateful. She looked at her guard for a long moment, then Venus sighed and bowed. Nothing need be said between them. Both knew the situation.

"I will fetch her home, my queen," Venus said and walked from the room.

&

Endymion leaned over and murmured something in the ear of his wife. The simple fact that she was _his_ wife thrilled him each time he thought of it. Some of the courtiers watched indulgently. Others muttered darkly to themselves, afraid that this was the way the Lunarians were attempting to get their first foothold on Earth, to interfere more directly. Endymion ignored the whispers. He knew his adorable wife would win them over eventually.

Kunzite watched and waited. He knew that you could not change people's minds so easily. He took note of who said what, who approved, who plotted in the shadows. Zoisite flirted and chatted, while Jadeite looked on, alternately amused and irritated. Nephrite merely brooded in a corner, while the court beauties ogled him and giggled. Kunzite shook his head is disgust at the antics of the light-headed little girls. He suddenly wished there was more than one woman at court with grace, beauty to match theirs, and the brains to keep herself in line. More women like Baryl...

There was a choked spluttering from the normally composed herald. All eyes turned to him as he faced the court and announced in a shaking voice,

"Her supreme excellency, Heir-Apparent to the Throne of Beauty, Captain of the Lunar Celestial Guard, Shining Morning Star and reigning Mage-Soldier of the planet Venus, the Goddess Aphrodite."

Murmurs swept the room, turning to shocked gasps as Sailor Venus stalked into the room, her face composed but her lips pressed tightly together. The more conservative women fainted dead away, while the old men went ghost-white at the sight of her long legs flashing with each long stride beneath the mini-skirt. Her white gloves only enhanced the expanse of upper arm, and the low-cut blouse made some of the bolder girls feel completely inadequate. A stone sword was strapped in high evidence on her back, and her hair swirled around her like a cape. As a hush covered the room, Kunzite's voice was heard to say musingly with a note of deep humor,

"More women like _her_."


	3. Politics

Selene II half started up from her throne next to her new husband as Venus walked into the court, aggressively beautiful and divine. She paused, looking sheepish as she saw the expression on her best friend's face. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?" The heir to the Silver Millennium asked. Venus did not answer her sovereign as she looked at the King of Earth. Despite his outspoken admiration of the long-legged senshi, Kunzite stepped forward, putting himself at such an angle that he would easily be able to engage the woman if she became a threat. Zoisite and Jadeite looked up, and the bored expression left Nephrite's face. She ignored the four of them.

"Your Majesty," Venus' voice was clipped, barely civil. "Why is the heir to the Lunar Throne in your court? Why did you not send her home? The treaty states that no one from the Nine Kingdoms will interfere on Earth, and yet here she sits."

The court turned to look at Endymion, who looked at his blushing bride. She had the grace to look embarrassed, at least. The four generals bristled at the tone, as well as the political implications of the fact that she publicly chided the King in his own court. Kunzite's eyebrow twitched, and to his surprise, the woman glanced his way, and the muscles in her jaw loosened somewhat. In a quiet, gentler voice, she said,

"Your Highness, please return to your mother. I will try to smooth things over here."

"No!" Selene cried, sitting forward and clutching Endymion's arm. "I will NOT leave my husband! You can't make me go back!"

Venus' eyes flashed with annoyance at the tone and temper tantrum before the Princess' words penetrated. Her eyes widened and she went very pale. Her voice was extremely quiet as she repeated,

"Your... husband."

"If I may have a word," Endymion suddenly said, very firmly. He stepped down, taking Venus' arm, which she almost absent-mindedly twitched away from him, staring at her mistress. He stepped in front of her, breaking her eye contact as she was forced to look at him. "In private, if you don't mind, Highness."

She nodded almost mechanically, horror making itself seen. Without quite knowing why, Kunzite detached himself from the dais and followed the two of them from the room. His prince led the beautiful goddess down the hall and into the royal garden. Kunzite stationed himself in plain view, so that anyone approaching the garden would see that the Prince and goddess had a chaperone. Gossip now could ruin everything.

Endymion turned, facing the deity as she sat on the marble bench, her face deeply troubled. "Why?" He demanded bluntly. "You were moderately annoyed with her when we were merely in love. How is it so much worse when she is my bride?"

"Our politics are not yours," She said, absently. Kunzite came to their side, gripping Venus' shoulder. He was surprised when he felt the musculature under his hand. He had expected her to be softer.

"Is it because we're too unintelligent to understand the workings of a divine court? Or is it that the nine kingdoms keep secrets just to keep secrets?" He asked with heavy sarcasm. Somehow, goading her now snapped her out of whatever trance she had been in. Her head flew up and he was caught by her beautiful eyes as her jaw clenched. Relaxing herself with a visible effort of will, she answered in a tight tone,

"We prefer not to air our dirty laundry for the humans of Earth to see. However, since you are loath to let it go, I see I shall have to explain. There are two factions on the moon. The more powerful, the one that wants merely to protect the people of this troubled planet, is lead by Selene. To keep your wars from becoming ours, she has banned all humans from the Earth."

"We know the treaty," Kunzite's voice was as tight as hers. Endymion elbowed him, subtly. Venus looked at both of them with a warning in her eyes.

"The second faction is headed by Selene's sister, Nephrenia." She shuddered a bit on the name. "They want to subjugate the people of Earth to her will. If news that a human has 'defiled' the princess- their words, not mine- there will be a general outcry. On the one hand, there will be those who claim that she was raped or seduced and call for war. Then there will be those who declare that Selene allowed her daughter to break the treaty, and that she is a hypocrite. In any case, no one will accept Selene's daughter as the heir after she has lost her purity to a human, and she will be ousted, putting Nephrenia in charge, which is something none of us wants."

Her voice had dropped into a very ironic tone towards the end, and Kunzite almost found himself reaching out to comfort her. He stopped, looking at his liege's face; Endymion was distraught. Kunzite looked between the two of them, and found himself asking,

"Is there nothing that the goddess of love can do for a pair of lovers?"

"In this case..." She stopped, the negation on her lips, and a thoughtful look crossed her face. Her answer abruptly changed. "Perhaps."

The two men looked at one another in shock. Neither had expected the goddess to change her mind, and the suddenness startled them. Venus put her hands on either side of Endymion's face and forced him to look her in the eye. Kunzite started to reach again for her in protest, but Endymion waved him back.

"What I am about to do may not work. I am going to gamble everything on your strength of will, the strength of my divine powers, and the protection of your people. Do you agree?" She asked, seeming to stare directly into his soul.

"What am I to do?" Endymion asked. Venus looked grave.

"The hardest thing you can do in this circumstance: Trust me."

Endymion blinked. Venus sighed in exasperation. "I am going to send your wife back to the moon."

The prince's eyes flashed, but Kunzite found himself admiring the woman's sharp thinking. She obviously had some plan in mind, and judging by the pain in her eyes, this was going to cost her. Venus looked up at the prince, her impatience plain again as she explained,

"I am the only woman who can restore her virginity to her. Thus the gambling on my divine powers. I will return her to the moon. Since she is unwilling, the transport spell will cost me in terms of my physical strength. If I cannot borrow your power, I cannot do it at all, especially after I wipe her memories of being married to you. I will cover my presence here by pretending to be working as a ambassador to arrange a marriage of alliance until I recover. I am your hostage, the assurance that you will get your wife back. The people of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter will fall in behind me; possibly Pluto as well. We may be able to strike a compromise, especially if I ensure that Selene becomes pregnant again."

Inwardly, she winced, thinking about what was left unsaid. If Princess Serenity just married Endymion, the two kingdoms would still not be united, but merely allies. To ensure that the kingdoms were one, she would have to make sure that the queen miscarried, so that the Princess' daughter would inherit. Even by suggesting this plan, she was committing treason... treason that would become regicide.

As she was thinking about the fact that she was about to break every oath she had ever given, Endymion was thinking about the political implications of what Venus had just suggested. Obviously, the woman was a woman who was not at all to be trusted, since this plan had come so readily to her mind, but the alternatives were to lose his wife forever... or war.

"Why?" He asked. Venus' lips folded, and for a moment, he thought that should would refuse to answer. He was surprised when she spoke, and her voice carried an agony he had not thought the gods could feel,

"I am sworn to protect your wife. Even more than that, she deserves happiness and freedom, which she will only find with you. I am protecting my country more by betraying it, by keeping this system safe from war, than I would by chaining her in a crystal dungeon for the rest of her life. Goddess help me, I value the woman more than the throne."

Kunzite longed to comfort her, found himself almost reaching out to hold her, but forced himself into stillness. Endymion stared into the eyes of the Venusian goddess for a long moment, and found that they were disconcertingly like a jaded version of his wife's. He wondered what could have jaded an immortal in the realms of the gods, and decided that he was better off never asking. He spoke, and despite all the evidence she had given that he was a fool for saying this, the words rang with sincerity.

"I trust you, Aphrodite."


	4. Malice

She was Aphrodite once again as she led the men back into the throne room. She walked slowly, almost ceremonially, and the prince and his bodyguard matched her pace. Serenity II looked up at her friend, a very tentative and hopeful smile on her naïve young face. She stopped, looking at her princess, her lips tightening. If the girl knew what they were planning, she would consider it the worst of betrayals; the rest of the kingdom certainly would as well.

Endymion offered his queen his arm, and she took it, a confused horror starting to cross her face. Together the newly married couple walked to Aphrodite's side, and she gently took Serenity's face between her hands, staring deeply into her princess's eyes as she willed the girl to remember nothing of the past few days. The princess fell asleep, slumping into her husband's arms, as he moved to support her. Aphrodite held her hands over the sleeping princess's form, and a pink light shown over the girl's body, strongest above her lower abdomen. With the princess once more virgin in mind and body, Aphrodite began to chant softly. The light surrounding the princess turned white, and with a brilliant flare, the girl was gone.

Murmurs rising to shouts broke out throughout the room; Aphrodite turned to face the accusatory court, her face neutral. She parted her lips to say something...

...And collapsed suddenly, unable to stand with the amount of power that she had just channeled through her body and that of her princess. Kunzite, who had been standing beside her, barely had time to think. He just held his arms out and caught her as she slithered towards the floor. There were gasps, a scream, and the shouts thundered through the room. Zoisite and Jadeite stepped between Endymion and Kunzite, their eyes adding him to the accusations. Endymion held out his arms, and the babbling slowly ceased.

"The princess of the moon was called back because of her duty to her people," He announced, his calm voice filling the room. "Lady Venus has agreed to stay here in the princess's place as ambassador until Serenity is free to return to us."

"Poor trade if you ask me," Someone muttered, and the uproar broke out again. Kunzite lifted the woman, preparing to place her on a window seat and defend her. Surprisingly, it was Nephrite's voice that next cut through the din.

"They have left us a hostage, any fool can see that." His expression was mocking. "If the princess is not returned in a reasonable amount of time, we will see if the rumors of immortality are indeed true or not."

Kunzite's lips tightened, and Nephrite turned to him, his voice in the other general's mind,

_Relax, my brother. I did not say we would see if the legends about goddesses being unable to use their powers if with child were true. Would you rather she were murdered or publicly gang raped? It _is_ Aphrodite we speak of..._

Kunzite nearly growled aloud. The callous suggestion shocked him more than he would have cared to admit, but there were some elements at court that might try something of the sort... if they weren't out for blood. But why would Nephrite think of such a thing...?

"Kunzite, please take her to the ambassador's wing." Endymion said firmly, cutting across further protest. Kunzite nodded, reading the implicit request that he also protect the girl, and carried the fainting goddess from the room.

&

Baryl was nearly crowing as she slipped into the small alcove of the palace. She knelt and waited for a response from the amorphous shadow that hovered there.

"Rise my servant," Metallica whispered, and Baryl obeyed, though she had learned by now to keep her head bowed.

"The princess has been removed to the Lunar Kingdom," Baryl reported. "She has had the seed of Earth removed from her body and made a maiden again. The Lunarians have left the heir of the Venusian Kingdom in her place to act as ambassador."

Metallica's answer was instantaneous. "Undermine her authority until she no longer even trusts herself. Then kill her. The war we need will break out at the second that a member of Earth's monarchy assassinates a princess."

Baryl licked her lips. Theo-regicide? She had never counted on...

"You've come to far to back out now," Metallica's voice whispered around her. "It's the only way. The only way to get what you want."

Baryl bowed deeply to her knees again. She knew what she wanted. She wanted power. She wanted the throne. She wanted...

"Your brother will be yours," Metallica whispered as Baryl left, and the princess of Earth shuddered, horrified and feeling filthy about the thoughts that swirled through her brain as Metallica pulled loose her deepest, most suppressed lusts...


	5. Corruption

Baryl was still contemplating her contract with suppressed shudders as she wandered along the hall of the palace. The appearance of Aphrodite was certainly more problematic than the appearance of Serenity II had been. While the young princess of the moon was more innocent, the Venusian princess was more alert, as well as more experienced. It would be impossible, in Beryl's estimation, to corrupt her. With the lunar princess gone, it would be harder to rot the throne and the royal family from without, no one to turn slowly against Endymion. Also, all chances of starting a war with the moon was gone.

Or was it?

Baryl froze as a new idea crossed her mind upon seeing the young general Jadeite walking down the hall in front of her. Her eyes roved over the strong shoulders and straight back of the most fiery of Endymion's personal friends, then narrowed as she assessed the risks she would be taking. Stealthily, she moved more quickly towards him, catching up. Sinking onto a convenient window seat, she drew her knees up, hiding her eyes in the skirt, and drawing a thin stiletto from inside her skirt to cut her thigh beneath the dark skirt that would not show a stain. Instantly, her eyes filled with tears at the self-inflicted pain, and she gave a soft moan that sounded like someone who had nearly cried herself out. Jadeite immediately turned towards the sound.

"Your Highness!" He gasped, coming back to her. "Your Highness, whatever can be the matter?"

The young cavalier dropped to his knees beside her, longing to reach out and comfort her, but it would not be appropriate for him to lay hands on a female member of the royal family. She said nothing, but cried harder. "Your Highness!" Jadeite now sounded distressed himself. "You need only speak the name of the miscreant, and they shall be laid at your feet!"

"You cannot! It is not for myself I weep," She answered, her voice catching artfully. "I weep for the kingdom and for Earth. My brother-" She broke off, beginning to insinuate herself into the back of his mind with the powers she borrowed from Metallica.

"The prince? What ails him? He seemed fine..." Jadeite asked.

"Foolishness! Foolishness ails him!" She snapped, as though she had come to the edge of her temper, as if this were a matter she had long contemplated. "Why is it that no one can see?"

"You mean, his wedding of the lunar princess? I admit it was ill-advised, but if it brings us to an understanding with the powers of the moon, I don't see where the harm could be. We could become the tenth kingdom."

"Do you not remember what happened to the other two kingdoms that took that title? The first destroyed by an insane goddess, now nothing but an asteroid belt, and the second taking the name of Nemesis and falling to the powers of darkness. Are we to follow the example? I tell you, the tenth kingdom is cursed!"

"Superstition," Jadeite said firmly, and Baryl realized she had made a mistake, and that the man now believed her to be nothing but a hysterical woman. She exerted a stronger pull on the back of his mind and tried again.

"Superstition, is it? Think Jadeite. Everyone in the palace fears those monoliths that sprouted to the north. Remember. Remember when they first appeared..."

Jadeite remembered...

_... the entire court was gathered to watch the Perseid meteor shower, the most spectacular celestial event of the year, since no eclipses were predicted for the year. Endymion's attention was wandering, as it had been doing for a couple of months now. People were gossiping about what had brought about the change in the prince. Many suspected that he was secretly sneaking away to see a woman. Kunzite had a knowing smile, but refused to say a word._

_"Endymion!" A quiet voice called from the darkness. Nearby heads turned in confusion. The prince's face registered a strange mixture of rapture and concern, and he vaulted the narrow rail of the pavilion to clasp a vague female shape into his arms. As they embraced, a beam of light lanced down from the skies amongst the meteors, though much brighter, and struck the ground to the north. People cried out, but the prince was so wrapped in his attention to the woman that neither of them even noticed._

_"We can't keep meeting like this," He whispered to her. The four generals tore their eyes away from the smoking crater to look at their prince. The woman had stepped slightly into the light from the palace, and they could see she was in fact nothing more than a mere girl, whose eyes filled with tears at his pronouncement._

_"But- why?" She asked as he cupped her cheek in his hand. Kunzite vaulted over the edge of the bannister himself, blocking the lovers from view, and the others realized that he had known all along._

_"Because it is forbidden by the gods. Inhabitants of the moon and the Earth are not allowed to have contact with one another."_

_"But it's too late," The girl said, snuggling closer to his chest. "We've already fallen in love."_

_They kissed deeply, as cries drew the attention of the others back to the smoking crater. A large dark shape was growing out of it, becoming larger and more menacing._

_"Princess! Here again? Come, we're going home!" Another voice came from farther back in the shadows. Kunzite stepped forward, attempting to see who was hidden behind the lovers, commenting with a chuckle as he searched,_

_"It must be hard having a bundle of energy for a princess..."_

_There was another flash of light as two people disappeared, and the monolith grew even taller in their absence..._

"She brought it, she and the woman that now Kunzite hovers over. The moon is conspiring against us. You saw it with your own eyes!"

Jadeite's eyes were nearly glazed over. Baryl yanked on the threads connecting his mind to hers and the general fell forward, landing on his knees at her feet.

"Yes, highness," He murmured. "Only you in your wisdom have seen this danger. I will be led by you,"

Baryl ducked her head to hide the triumphant smile. It had been almost too easy! "My brother's blindness will not be lifted until she and the one who brought this are gone," Baryl whispered. "If I were not a weak, untrained woman, I would dispatch the false goddesses myself."

Jadeite lunged to his feet, his face lit with a holy zeal. "Fear not, princess!" He declaimed. "I, myself, shall cleanse this palace of that seductress and all of her contamination!" He bowed deeply and hurried off. Baryl's lips were white they were compressed so tightly, but she sighed with something akin to relief.

_It is done, my mistress..._


	6. Assassin

The girl barely stirred as Kunzite laid her on the bed. She seemed so pale, so very light. He looked at her, brushing her hair back off her face, and was slightly surprised to notice that he _wasn't_ surprised at thinking of her as a young girl. She was so fragile that he couldn't really think of Aphrodite as a goddess and- looking at her now under a good light, asleep, vulnerable- he realized she was much too young to be a woman. For a long, insane moment, he yearned to pull off his cape and wrap her in it- like a blanket for a child- at the same time that he wanted to lay down beside her, pull her close, and smother her cheeks with kisses. Lust and protectiveness warred within him for a moment, and with a shake of his head, he tore himself away from her, driving himself from the room as a zealot whipped from the altar of his god...

*&*

Jadeite was amused for a dark moment as he stood, his eyes scanning the wall in front of him. Was there not a children's story about a prince climbing a tower to get at the beauty hidden within? This time, the prince came not as a lover, and the beauty was to fade well before its time. Taking a firm hold on the thick ivy, he began to climb.

A near slip halfway up the wall nearly ended his quest, but at last the young knight propelled himself through the window and into the room wherein the sleeping beauty slept. Call her Aurora, Rapunzel, Eithlinn, or Deirdre, Aphrodite asleep was still a dangerous woman.

As he moved stealthily towards the bed, he was careful to make no noise. He would not draw his sword until such time as he had her at his mercy. Then, goddess or no, she would be dead. A rage darkened his face as he looked upon her. How could such evil be disguised behind such a beautiful maiden's visage? His lips twisted into an insane snarl as he imagined how he would cut that countenance to ribbons.

Through some evil sorcery, the temptress heard him. Her eyes awoke with a start, and rolled with the look of a trapped animal. She rolled to the side of the bed opposite him, and came up, swaying even as she pulled her chain belt from around her waist and snapped it straight.

*&*

She felt hostility emanating from very close, and Minako snapped awake to find herself still weak, prone, and very human. Her eyes rolled towards the source of the hostility, and she found one of the guardians to Endymion whom she had noticed in the throne room.

_Is this the source of discontent and malice I've felt? Endymion's generals don't approve of a love match with the moon?I am forbidden to raise the Holy Blade of the Imperium Crystal, except in defense of Serenity! What-_

As she rolled to put at least one piece of furniture between herself and the approaching madman, she felt the links of the Venus Chain grind into her hips. She may be too weak to use any of the energy of her homeworld, but she thanked her distant tutor, Artemis, that he had ensured that she knew how to use the weapons entrusted to her care; sword and chain weapon. With a snap, she loosed it from her waist and held it in both hands. If the Earth wanted a fight, they would get one!

Jadeite unsheathed his sword and swung it at her, maneuvering to get around to her side of the bed. Taking the chain in both hands, she stretched it, holding it up to block, then whipped it forward, releasing with her right hand as she did so. The taught chain whistled forward, lashing across his face, drawing the first blood of the combat from his cheek.

"Little bitch," He snarled, slicing at her midsection. She dodged sideways, then back, moving around his swings. She swallowed, feeling bile rise to her throat. The exertion was too much for her. In a moment, she was going to fall-

-An opening! Again, she whipped the chain forward, and it snaked around his blade. With a grunt of effort, she tore the sword from the surprised general's hands, sending it flying somewhere towards the window, even as her right foot swung forward, catching him in the stomach.

He tackled her. Minako felt her head hit the floor and fought to remain conscious. Trying for surprise, she screamed directly into his face. As she had hoped, he flinched backwards for a moment, and she gathered the last of her strength to throw him off before-

-he got his hands around her throat. Her back arched as she scrabbled for breath, and she knew no more...

*&*

The door flew open. Jadeite unconsciously loosened his grip as he spun to face the intruder. Kunzite stood in the doorway, having heard her scream. He stared in shock, and then lunged across the floor, yanking his brother in arms away from the girl.

"She was right! You have fallen to her foul charms!" Jadeite screamed, and hit Kunzite on the side of the face. Kunzite was stunned for a moment, staring as Jadeite ran for the door. One of his comrades had struck him. The idea had been unthinkable!

But now that the precedent was set...

Kunzite lunged to his feet, and took off down the hall after his "brother". With a flying leap, he brought the other man to the floor. He secured the man, then turned him over, glaring down at the other general, who was, in his rage, foaming at the mouth.

"Aphrodite will destroy us with her lust!" He screamed. "The moon will conquer us! Endymion will die, and our beautiful queen will be given to Ares' unspeakable delights! Forgive me, my queen! I have failed you! You were right about her! You were right!"

People were pouring into the hallway now, attracted by the noise. They stared in shock at the one general with a bruise forming on his cheek, who sat astride his seemingly insane general. Whispers started, then murmurs, rising to a full fledged babble. Endymion pushed to the front.

"What is going on here?" He roared over the noise, and there was suddenly silence from all, excepting only Jadeite's whimpers of pain, as Kunzite twisted his arm.

"He tried to assassinate the ambassador from the moon, then attacked me when I came to her defense," Kunzite said into the silence. Endymion's eyes widened in shock, and then his jaw set. Picking three guards out of the crowd who were not among the four generals, he ordered that Jadeite be held in security for questioning. He turned and moved off, his eyes troubled. Kunzite stood up, aware that all eyes were on him.

"I will see to Her Eminence," He said, and walked slowly down the hall back to her rooms.


	7. Moonlight

Baryl was in a temper as she tossed herself down on the lacy, delicate bed in her own rooms. Her attempt had failed; Jadeite was in the palace dungeon- something that had never happened before among the chosen Imperial Guard. She couldn't bear this. Disrespect of someone she commanded was disrespect of her. That Venusian bitch had made her look like a fool, because her servant had looked like a fool!

The anger got to be too much. Baryl, with a mal-tempered shriek, got to her feet and began hurling everything breakable in the room at the walls. It was only when she picked up her scrying ball that she froze. Forget the embarrassment to herself! What would happen when Metalia discovered what had happened? She needed to do something- quickly!

The crystal ball gave her the answer she needed. As she looked into the ball, she saw Zoicite watching Kunzite walk towards the rooms of the ill Venusian princess with the most poisonous look to cross the face of any man...

Baryl smiled, and once more sent a thought twisting into the mind of one of the four generals. Friendship could easily become lust- and lust was a powerful agent.

*&*

Zoicite was pissed. This- female!- had come out of nowhere, and within hours of her arrival, his best friends were warring in the halls! And Kunzite! Hovering over that pale waif as though she were the princess of Earth! He had spent the last several years trying to subtly get Kunzite's attention, and when that had failed, he had turned to flirting with Nephrite to try to make Kunzite jealous. Nothing had worked, and this Venusian bitch had come crawling out of the woodwork like an insidious little termite and had taken Kunzite in one afternoon!

Abruptly, he turned on her heel and flounced off down the hall towards the dungeons. He would go to find out what had happened between the two generals. If they thought together, he and Jadeite could surely find some way to bring Kunzite to his senses... and then, the problem of the prince could be addressed.

*&*

The sun had set. Kunzite was glad that this interminable day was over, but somehow he found himself as uneasy as a child who was afraid of the dark. Somehow this darkness seemed to be the cause of all of the problems of recent times. His eyes strayed north to the black monolith. He shuddered and turned away.

He carried the tray to the girl's room himself, afraid someone may try to poison her. At her answering call, he pushed open the door and approached her with a gentle smile. She was sitting up in bed, the chain lying next to her on the bed. She was very pale, and the dress she wore, while good quality, did not seem to be the garment of a goddess, or even of a princess. She looked vulnerable, and thoroughly mortal.

He placed the tray on the table beside the bed, and asked softly,

"Is Aphrodite a name or a title?"

The girl, reaching for the spoon, stopped and tilted her head, looking up at him quizzically.

"It's just that we've always called the Goddess of the Moon Selene, but the princess- whom, you have assured me is the lunar heir- is called Serenity. I wondered if that meant she would someday be Selene, or if the name of the Goddess would change. Then you appear, and I find the questions coming to the forefront again."

The girl was picking at the broth, taking the smallest possible sips. She looked up at him, and placed the spoon aside.

"Her friends call her Princess Serenity. It was the name she was given at birth. After she is married, she will become Selene II, and her daughter will be Princess Serenity until she in turn becomes Selene III- though, with the life span of those born in the Nine Kingdoms, Selene III may not come about for nine hundred years. Naming is a very subtle expression of power. When I found her married, I started automatically to refer to her in my head as Selene II. When she uses the Crystal, she is Serenity. When I'm in uniform, I'm Venus. My mother, technically is Goddess of Venus and Aphrodite, but I carry the title when acting in her stead- such as being a liason to other courts."

"Then you are the Princess-" Kunzite trailed off, leaving her to fill in the answer, watching concernedly as she picked up the spoon and toyed with it rather than eating it.

"Princess Minako," She supplied. "I don't hear it often. Even among our friends, it's usually 'Mars, could you' or 'Jupiter, do you want to'. We're usually on duty when we're present at a court other than our own. My own mother calls me Ishtar to get me ready to assume Aphrodite. I'm never Minako."

"You sound bitter," Kunzite noted, subtly pushing a roll towards Minako. She picked it up and started to shred it. She looked surprised.

"Well-" She trailed off, and then spoke in a very soft, very intense voice. "Jupiter longs for power and to prove herself. She loves being the Princess of a planet of storms and tempers and the energy of storms. Mars is the mystic; she uses her powers to help people and takes her duties very seriously. Mercury sees her time as Mercury to be a chance to learn everything she can before she becomes Athene. Me..." She looked out over the dark palace garden. "I wonder if I'm the only person who wants to be free. I mean, I treasure my friendships with the others, and I take my duties to the queen very seriously. But I wonder what it would have been like to have been born a normal woman, to have a life and to be able to have dreams to pursue. I have no dreams, no ambition. I've known since I was very little that I was a Goddess of Love and Defender of the Princess. I knew I was the emotional crutch for a woman who controls the fates of Nine Kingdoms. My entire life was mapped out the moment I was born. I hate fate. I hate destiny. I want to wake up each morning, roll over, and sleep in. I want to have lessons and chores, and then be able to work to become good at something I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to have a choice of what that rest of my life is. All of my friends are so wrapped up in the life that was mapped out for them that they never look at what the other possibilities are. All except the Princess. She was curious about the Earth, and secretly I was glad that she broke the rules. It meant _I _could break the rules by coming after her."

Minako abruptly turned and looked back at Kunzite. "I loved watching the Earth. It's so blue and green and vibrant and _alive!_ Nothing is alive on the moon; it's stagnant and a world of ritual and formalized beauty. I-" She paused, then spoke the deepest secret of her soul. "I wanted to be a normal girl living on a beautiful planet where things were alive and new and changing with a future, not a gameplan."

Kunzite swept her off the bed. She wasn't going to eat, anyway. Minako's eyes flew open wide with shock, but she didn't struggle. There was no evil intent from him. He carried her out onto the balcony of her rooms.

"Look up," He commanded softly. Minako's eyes rose to the moon, shining brightly overhead. She had never seen it from offworld before, and she gasped softly at it.

"We see that brilliant crystal overhead every night," He murmured to her. "My whole life, I've been sick of petty court gossip, and brainlessness, and our damned traditions. It's tradition and tradition and tradition because if we're not all carefully polite with one another, it's war. I hate tradition. I hate having a peace dictated to me rather than allowing nature take its course. All my life I've looked up at that diamond shining overhead and wanted nothing more than to go and see it; to put the Earth in its place beneath me as a pretty little bauble for studying and then going about more important matters. I wanted beauty and the stars and all of eternity at my fingertips."

"Then we both wanted-" She looked at him, and realized they were a handspan apart. She gasped again, softly, her pink lips parting in the moonlight.

"Each other," He murmured. "Or what the other had, rather."

She nodded, mesmerized. He set her down and took both her hands between his. "Minako," He whispered. "Stay here! When the Princess comes back, become the ambassador permanently. That will give you an excuse to stay. You can be free, like you've always wanted. You won't have to protect anyone else's emotions or body- be protected."

She blinked in confusion at the last. Kunzite's eyes were scorching her now. "You're so vulnerable, and no one else seems to be able to see it. Let me protect you."

Before she could recover from her shock, he was kissing her. Not with deep passion and a forceful determination as she had been kissed by Ares- gently, tenderly, as if she were something fragile that would break with too much force. She trembled and found herself wishing for a moment, desperate, frantic, longing-

When he ended the kiss, she stepped back away from him. "I can never turn my back on my duties. I only said I wished to, not that I would."

Grandly, she turned on her heel and swept back into the room, closing the balcony door behind her. Kunzite leaned against the rail, his eyes cast down on the darkened garden. He told himself it had been impulse and moonlight, nothing more. He turned regretfully-

-And found himself staring at her closed door. A wry expression crossed his face, and he knocked. She opened it, her eyes confused and a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry to intrude, madam," He said, with no small amount of grandeur. "But your room is the only way off this balcony."

Minako flushed and stood aside to let him back into the room. With a bow, he swept across the room and out through the other door- but for a moment he left it open a crack. He watched her carefully close and lock the balcony door, and then walk back across to the bed. She stood beside it a moment, and then jumped on the bed, hugging her pillow. After a moment, she sat up, placed the pillow back where it belonged, and turned her attention to the cooled meal tray. She picked up a spoon, tasted the soup, made a face, and began to eat in earnest.

She would recover. Soon.

Kunzite smiled, closed the door behind himself, and walked off down the hall, unaware that he himself was being watched.


	8. Desire

Zoicite was disgusted. That afternoon, Jadeite had been sitting in the corner of the cell, apologizing loudly to the queen- had Queen Gaia had something to do with his madness?- and generally gibbering at thin air. At least, most of the foaming had stopped, even if what was there had dried. Zoicite had gagged and left the room, aware that Nephrite was watching him. He was seated on an uncomfortable wooden stool, his eyes following the movements of anyone in and out of the dungeon, brooding as was his wont as he eyed the clearly insane Jadeite. He had gotten no answers, and now he sat on a window seat, watching the rooms of the Venusian slut.

Zoicite was also still jealous. The dark curtains hid any movement he made as he shifted on his seat. He was outraged when Kunzite left the Venusian woman's room, spying on her for a few moments, and walked down the hall chuckling to himself. The moment almost passed, and then Zoicite was out of the window, blocking the other man's progress.

"Why are you paying so much attention to her?" Zoicite demanded. "I've been keeping an eye on you ever since your brawl with Jadeite this afternoon. You want to tell me what's so fascinating about her?"

"To be quite crude," A voice answered for him, "I don't believe the girl can stand right now, let alone put out. Isn't that correct, Kunzite?"

Both of the generals turned to see Nephrite leaning against the wall, his lips curled into an insolent sneer. Kunzite lifted an eyebrow; Zoicite nearly jumped. "And what's with you, today?" He snarled. "Skulking around everywhere, watching everything. It's enough to make anyone paranoid!"

Nephrite's smirk widened. "But my dear, I wondered why you had suddenly turned your attentions from me to our dear brother. Kunzite's eyes are wandering in a new direction, and you suddenly want him? Dear me, my heart has shattered." He placed a languid hand to his heart. Zoicite sniffed and stormed off down the hall. Nephrite drew up beside Kunzite, nearly hissing in his ear.

"Watch him," He murmured. "I see the same kind of madness that infected Jadeite lingering around him. In fact, I might even feel it stealing over myself. We shall all be mad before this is over,"

Kunzite playfully gave the other general a shove away, wanting merely to go to his own room and get away from this strange and stressful day. "You've been brooding and writing bad poetry too much. Go find a patch of moonlight and play the dark, mysterious knight some more."

Nephrite stood with a shrug, his face shadowed by the flickering light of the torches and magelights in the hall. "You'll think about this some day; I hope it's not too late. Go to bed. Dream of hot flesh and cool eyes. Perhaps the lust for what the two of you can't have will save you and Endymion in the end."

Kunzite watched the other man walk off, his eyes wide in astonishment, his temper beginning to burn beneath the exterior. This was the second intimation of such kind that Nephrite had given that day. He hoped that once the strangeness wore off, everything would return to normal...

*&*

In the dungeon, Jadeite knelt in a pool of moonlight, staring up into the sky. The white uniform of his calling was now stained gray with the filth of the small cell. He looked like a martyr in his prayerlike attitude, and his thoughts dwelt with his idol and goddess, the woman who had revealed the corruption of the court to him.

The soft sound of keys jingling drew his attention away from his contemplations of hatred for the lunar goddess and adoration for the Earth goddess.

"My queen?" He whispered, his youthful looks accenting the heaven and hell within his mind.

"Just me," Zoicite whispered back, leaning over and peering at the lock as best he could in the dim moonlight. After trying several keys, the door to the cell swung open. Both froze in case the sound was heard by the snoring guard. When there was no movement, Jadeite stepped from the cell, taking Zoicite's arm in a firm grip.

"I thank you, my friend," He whispered. "But this is treason! We can't-"

"You can," Baryl interrupted, seeming to appear from the Shadows. "I am a member of the royal family after all- I pardon you both. Arm the populace, gain support for freeing the throne from corruption, stir up the masses against the Lunar Queen. When Endymion rules, it must be an era of strength and power for the Earth- through bloodshed, if necessary."

She looked at them and her eyes scorched their souls. "And we will all have what we want the most."


End file.
